"Hooked" For Life

A good friend, who I hadn’t seen in quite some time, stopped by the other day and we began to catch up on lost time. One of his first questions was the typical, "What’s been going on with you?" I began to tell him of my hectic schedule, and how a good part of it revolves around fishing. He was a bit surprised since he never knew of me being that big into fishing as a youth. In fact, I only had one family fishing outing to Oak Creek when I was about ten years old. My father was into hot rods, and most of our family trips were to the Sand Dunes or the race- track. I had a lot of fun on these trips, but the trip to Oak Creek was definitely my favorite. While visiting a family friend at his cabin along the creek, he noticed my brothers and I getting excited as we could see some trout in a hole just five feet off the shore. Our friend brought out some poles and a little corn and preceded to show us how to tie on a hook, bait the hook, and cast. It was real exciting being able to watch the fish check out our bait and occasionally take it. Like typical kids, we were frustrated that we couldn’t catch one on every cast, so he took us up the road to a hatchery. I will never forget that experience. Those fish would fight for a bare hook. This was my one and only family fishing experience, but I promise you, it was enough to make me "Hooked For Life". After that trip I came home with a new found love for fishing. But between my active sports schedule and family outings that did not include fishing, I didn’t touch another pole for about four years. At that time I joined some buddies that would float down the river on tubes, when it was running, to a small pond five miles out of town. We would pack some food, water, sleeping bags, and some tackle on our tube and float our way to the fishing hole. When we got there we would catch live minnows in the river, dig up some worms, and it was on. This pond had mostly small bass, catfish and bluegill and was so small we probably took turns catching the same fish. I don’t know why we brought the sleeping bags though, I don’t ever remember sleeping on these outings. We would fish until our parents came to pick us up the next day. These memories will remain with me forever and I have since been able to pass this heritage on to my three boys. This is, without a doubt, my best accomplishment in fishing. I have been by the side of each of my sons for their first fish. My youngest has caught three unassisted fish already at the age of 2 1/2. He casts and everything. My nine year old caught his first at three and has since caught countless fish. He was the runner-up of last years D.A.R.E tournament along with being the runner-up at this years B.A.S.S. Casting Kids State Championships. We are scheduled to fish the D.A.R.E. tournament again this year. My oldest missed out on fishing young as I went several years of his youth being to wrapped- up in my job to even fish. Though he started late, he is a fishing enthusiast now. I definitely enjoy the competitive side of the sport, but am careful not to get so wrapped up in the tournament stuff that I forget them. The recent Bill Luke Big Bass Days was a perfect time for me to compete, yet spend three days on the water with them, and give a little sight-fishing lesson to them at the same time. You don’t always have the chance to watch the fish react to your bait like they do on their beds. That is exciting!

I am a firm believer that kids today need to have something, such as fishing, hunting, sports, etc., to get fired up about to keep them occupied. The kids that wander with idle time, more than not, are the ones who get side- tracked with drugs, alcohol, or other non-healthy activities. I guess the point of this article is to remind everyone to pass on the heritage to your children. One trip made a world of difference in my life. I made my mistakes along the way, but I came back and pursued an area that had a lasting effect on my life. If you don’t yet have a child, volunteer to take a child fishing. Events such as the Glendale D.A.R.E. tournament, April 21^st at Lake Pleasant, or the upcoming, B.A.S.S. affiliated, C.A.S.T. (April 14^th at Pleasant) or their Big Brothers/ Big Sisters tournament (May 5^th at Pleasant) are perfect places to make a difference. Let’s get our children "Hooked on Fishing". KIP POLLAY (AZOD)